Wiegman: 'The connections were very good'

England women’s head coach Sarina Wiegman reflected on an impressive win for the Lionesses at Wembley.

Wiegman’s side ran out 8-0 winners over China PR in the third game in their Homecoming Series – a block of games the England boss is using to challenge her team.

And it also marked a milestone 50th win in charge of the Lionesses for Wiegman.

“You always learn something from a game,” said Wiegman. “I think we started really well and they played in a different shape that they haven’t done before so we had to adapt to that which was really good.

“They gave us a little too much time on the ball and when we get that time you could see we were really good, and that we know how we want to play and what we want to do and the connections were very good and there were some really good goals.

“We want to be more ruthless in the final third and create chances to score more goals and reward ourselves and that is what we did today.”

England returned to the home of football for the first time since winning UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 in the summer and it was a rapturous reception.

“It is always incredible to come here with this amount of fans – I will never take it for granted,” added Wiegman.

“It went a bit easier than expected but we were able to put in a performance and show who we are and we did that. Sometimes we don’t finish off our chances, but today we did that.”

Anna Moorhouse was handed her debut, starting between the sticks for the Lionesses in the absence of both Hannah Hampton and Khiara Keating.

“She has shown up for a long time now and totally accepts whatever role in the squad but was ready to play and was so happy to play today,” commented Wiegman.

Wiegman also had the chance to see a new central defensive partnership of Esme Morgan and Maya Le Tissier in action.

“Esme and Maya have played together last camp too and it is good to see a lot of defenders and a lot of players because they can show where they are at both as individuals and how they play together,” explained Wiegman.

Georgia Stanway earned praise from the England boss after bagging a hat-trick.

“She was really enjoying herself today and if you look at her journey this year, with her injury that was not nice but it says everything about her – how she really works so hard and is so committed to come back and show up and try to be better every single day and it is really impressive,” said Wiegman.

And Beth Mead made the scoresheet for the Lionesses, scoring a quick-fire double.

“I think she is still improving,” added Wiegman. “She has always been a smart player. She picks up positions and is very calm in the final third and sees the picture of the final third and that is what she did today too.

“We invited her to make more motivations, pick up more positions and have the freedom to do that and she has done that.”

And Wiegman was pleased with how her team are making connections as they look towards next year’s 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.

“We did work on it this week,” she said. “I think it is combination of things. We clicked really well and I also think at moments China left a little bit too much space and were less ruthless than Brazil was but you still have to make the moments or win the ball that falls out and be really composed to shoot, like Georgia did

“You have to be there and have to be connected. It has clicked well in other games and we have just missed the final touch or the defence has been so good that we haven’t scored but today we did.”